Placemaking: an action kit for urban public space in China

HONG KONG, CHINA -�Media OutReach - 1 August 2019 - Cushman & Wakefield (NYSE: CWK), a leading global real estate
services firm, today released the report Placemaking:
An action kit for urban public space in China. According to the report, when
considering urban public space in China, the aim for local governments is to
generate all-inclusive citizen-friendly settings that are also economically
sustainable. It’s not just a matter of obeying aesthetic rules that preserve a
place’s charm and appeal; it must be an approach that produces community
ownership, from space planning to space operation and management. Ultimately,
the approach adopted should produce a space which the community and visitors
alike wish to be active in and wish to spend time in again and again.

 

Shaun Brodie, Senior Director, Head of Occupier Research, Greater
China, Cushman & Wakefield, shared details about the process of placemaking, which can help meet
China’s urban development goals. Placemaking
is an all-embracing procedure to the planning, design and management of urban
public space. Placemaking examines the current qualities and strengths a local
community possesses. This, together with the community and via best-practice
placemaking concepts, then expediates the formation and establishment of urban
public space that rouses experience and amplifies citizens’ health, happiness
and wellbeing.

 

The benefits of good placemaking

 

Effective placemaking is equally a process and
a line of thinking that applies urban design principles. Placemaking can be
directed by an official authority and propelled at the grass roots level.
Involving all interested parties, best-practice placemaking can enhance
underused urban public space to augment the built environment experience at the
pedestrian level.

 

Good placemaking needs the wide involvement of
a number of participants to design and operate projects and activities because
these elements need to be suitable and befitting to the community experience to
make the place work to its full potential. This quality singlehandedly
distinguishes placemaking from various other community development, economic
development and infrastructure development actions and endeavors.

 

As placemaking continues to progress, its
methodology will also transform. Best-practice placemaking now undoubtedly
counts on involvement from the local community but looking forward, placemaking
will likely have a unified emphasis on place outcomes based on community
engagement.

 

Community-led method

This ‘place-led’ method will inspire a sense of
purpose in China, and the planning and management of urban public spaces will
be executed by an all-encompassing assemblage of people that foster social
capital, shared values, a sense of ownership and a more enriched experience of
the place and the city as a whole by urban citizens around the region.

 

Urban public space development in China has
been spurred by the country’s rapid urbanization over recent years. Together
with urbanization, urban public space development is being inspired by
government policy and in particular its “Beautiful China” policy. This urges
local governments to consider aspects not only in terms of population density
and economics, but also in terms of sustainability and liveability. Both these
latter aspects are certainly close to the heart of the philosophy of
placemaking.

 

This isn’t just a new development tale — it
also is about redevelopment. A plethora of cities in China were planned and
built when the country was opening up. Since then, the country and these cities
have significantly evolved economically and socially, and as a result changes
need to be made to the built environment to keep up with the times and to
enhance the human experience of urban public space. Subsequently, urban renewal
is becoming more imperative, especially for the beautification of cities, and
placemaking is now a vital component in the development/renewal mix.

 

Shaun Brodie also pointed out that many cities in Europe and North America have
embraced placemaking, while in China, municipalities are now only beginning to
get to grips, experiment and adopt some of the concepts of the process as they
seek out the best liveability experience solutions to their urban development/renewal
challenges.

 

Please click here to download the report.

About Cushman & Wakefield

Cushman
& Wakefield (NYSE: CWK) is a leading global real estate services firm that
delivers exceptional value for real estate occupiers and owners. Cushman &
Wakefield is among the largest real estate services firms with 51,000 employees
in approximately 400 offices and 70 countries. Across Greater China, there are
22 offices servicing the local market. The company won four of the top awards
in the Euromoney Survey 2017 & 2018 in the categories of Overall, Agency
Letting/Sales, Valuation and Research in China. In 2018, the firm had revenue
of $8.2 billion across core services of property, facilities and project
management, leasing, capital markets, advisory and other services. To learn
more, visit www.cushmanwakefield.com.hk or
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